Currently, the case is only compatible with two smartphones

Oct 28, 2014 11:01 GMT  ·  By

HTC is well known for its One series of smartphones, but it’s completely unknown in the accessory business. Everyone was surprised when HTC launched its Dot View case earlier this year, and some probably thought this was just a gimmick meant to boost the company’s profits.

The Dot View case isn’t the most expensive intelligent case on the market, but it doesn’t go cheap either. For the time being, the accessory can be purchased for $40 (€31.5) or $50 (€40), depending on the model.

The case is available in four color options (blue, black, red and orange) and it’s compatible with two smartphones: HTC One M8 and HTC Desire 510.

Both Android and Windows Phone versions of HTC One M8 are compatible with the Dot View case, though each has a different level of usefulness.

We’ve been able to test it while reviewing the HTC One M8 for Windows and found that, while the case is a nifty accessory, it has limited utility on this particular smartphone.

Design-wise, it's the perfect accessory for the best-looking smartphone

First of all, the Dot View case is a good-looking accessory. Although it’s not the most stylish, it does have that retro look that many people love. The case offers good protection on both front and back sides of the HTC One M8, so you won’t have to worry that the aluminum will get scratched during heavy use.

Thanks to the accessory, your grip on the phone will be much better, as opposed to that offered by the glossy finish on the back side. It’s also worth mentioning that the Dot View case also protects all four corners of the HTC One M8, which are usually the first areas that get scratched when the smartphone is dropped.

Encased HTC One M8 for Windows (front)
Encased HTC One M8 for Windows (front)
Although the perforated design pattern may suggest the case features hundreds of very small holes, in fact only those that cover the BoomSound speakers of the HTC One M8 are uncovered. The rest are covered in order to protect the phone’s display from water splashes.

The back side of the case features dedicated holes for the dual 4-UltraPixel camera, dual-LED flash and antenna. In the front, there’s an open slot for the secondary 5-megapixel camera.

Answer and reject calls without waking the phone up

The main purpose of the Dot View case is to allow HTC One M8 owners to use the phone without having to wake the phone up, while offering some level of protection.

HTC Dot View case is an intelligent case that displays the caller ID if stored in the phonebook, but it can also show the temperature or calendar event. Missed calls, alarms, emails and other notifications are shown on the case as well.

How does it work? Well, it’s pretty simple. When someone calls you, the number or the name of the person should appear on the Dot View case in an 8-bit style text. The downside is the text is truncated if the name or the phone number doesn’t fit on the case.

HTC Dot View case time and weather
HTC Dot View case time and weather
If you want to answer that call, you must swipe up, but if you want to reject it, then you should simply swipe down. The HTC One M8 for Windows has a special settings menu for the Dot View case where you can switch from Fahrenheit to Celsius, or choose what notifications you want to appear on the case: calls, voice mail, messages or mail.

Do you have Cortana on your smartphone? Activate it with just one swipe

You can also set up the Dot View case to open Cortana when you swipe down or you can choose to show call history (see and return 3 latest calls from Dot View).

These are just about all the options you get, but let’s see how they work on the HTC One M8 for Windows. First of all, if someone calls you and you’ve missed the call, you won’t know that you have a missed call unless you wake the phone up.

The Dot View case displays the missed call for several seconds or so, but then it enters sleep mode and you won’t be able to notice it unless you bring the smartphone back to life.

The good news is the Dot View case supports the double-tap to wake up gesture, so you won’t have to actually wake up the smartphone, just the case.

Unfortunately, you won’t know who has called you unless you check out the history log within the smartphone. This kind of lowers the case’s functionality and it’s a pity given how solid it looks and how many other nifty features it offers.

The HTC Dot View case is a no go for movie lovers

We’ve also noticed that the case is rather rigid and it will not fold all the way around unless you apply some pressure on it. The Dot View case doesn’t seem to have been designed for this purpose, so you may look a little weird if you want to take a call with the case open, which we don’t really recommend.

For the same purpose mentioned earlier, the Dot View case can’t be used as a stand for watching movies on the HTC One M8. Another minor downside we have found while using the case would be the fact that the Dot View accessory may not always close completely.

Perhaps it’s the magnets that aren’t powerful enough to keep the case closed or repeated attempts to fold the case all the way around lowers its rigidity. We can’t say for sure, but it only happened to us a few times, so it shouldn’t be something to worry.

The case will be made available for additional smartphones soon

According to HTC, the Dot View case is the most popular accessory ever launched by the company, which is why the Taiwanese handset maker confirmed it would bring it to other smartphones on the market as well.

We reckon that HTC did a great job with the Dot View case and would recommend everyone who wants to protect the best-looking smartphone available on the market to consider buying one.

Even if it offers limited usability on the Windows Phone version of HTC One M8, it provides quite a lot of other features that should not be overlooked. Here is hoping that HTC will bring the Dot View case to as many smartphones as possible sooner rather than later.

HTC Dot View Case (16 Images)

HTC Dot View case
HTC One M8 for Windows and Dot View caseEncased HTC One M8 for Windows (front)
+13more